


Lacrymosa

by PinstripesAndConverse



Category: City of Love: Paris (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, F/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-05 14:23:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14046183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinstripesAndConverse/pseuds/PinstripesAndConverse
Summary: Continuation of thirsty4vincentkarm‘s Vampire AU for City of Love: Paris.  Vincent escaped at the end of the confrontation before the police could capture him.  The MC finally finds him one night, after months of obsessing over finishing what she started.  MC is named.





	Lacrymosa

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Evanescence's "Lacrymosa" off of their new album.

Sophia pulled her coat around her tighter as she approached St. George’s Square. The streets were quiet but far from empty; a haunting presence seemed to linger, as it always did lately.  It wasn’t the snow, the gray pall that hung over the city lately, or the lull between New Years’ and Valentine’s Day.  It was deeper than that, deeper than the dirt-speckled snowbanks and the chill in her bones.  

Maybe it was only felt by her but it was felt all the same.

Vincent Karm had disappeared, leaving behind him the city’s largest company with no figurehead and a string of arrest warrants.  She had stopped him from using the essence of love, a mythical artifact imbued with the power of true love, to turn Paris into a New Eden, a playground for the rich and famous.  He was almost caught, narrowly escaping by disappearing into a dark fog before the tunnel they confronted him in flooded.  The police caught his henchmen, but not him.  

Rumors about vampires swirled, if she listened hard enough for them.  She knew the truth to those rumors.  

Right after, she and her friends began routine patrols around the city, in any place he could have gone into hiding.  Months passed, and eventually excuses were made, lives got busier, they moved on.  He was a vampire, one of the most elusive, they doubted he’d ever be found.  She wondered if they even cared anymore; how could they be at peace knowing the entire thing went unfinished?  Not even Kat, her own best friend, a  _vampire_ , believed her anymore and told her to leave it be.  

Kat…they weren’t even really speaking anymore.  They lived together but there was a space between them now, one that wasn’t there when she first arrived in Paris months ago.  Something between them changed and while Kat’s new attitude certainly made her assertive, she still seemed to struggle with confronting people.  So she left Sophia be.  It hurt, if the journalist was honest.

Her friends left her when she needed them most, her heart aching with the pain of a love they would never understand.

No one was fighting for her.  Not anymore.

Few knew how deeply she was playing this to the chest, even now.  To say she was  _invested_  would be only scratching the surface.  It wasn’t curiosity driving her to find him, but  _necessity._ Deep within her, she felt a pull to him, one she couldn’t entirely explain, not even to herself.  All she knew was that their fates were intertwined, that she belonged at his side.  

She had met vampires before.  He didn’t scare her and she said as such when they first met.  He intrigued her.  He hadn’t looked at her as his next meal, as a thing to warm his bed.  No.  He was not such a simple creature.

He was powerful, not only as a vampire, but in general; he held so much sway over the city, over people, with pure charisma and charm.  He wouldn’t have to be a vampire for his position to be what it is.  Was.  He was a criminal now.

She had little doubt he was as obsessed with her as she with him.

He gazed at her with adoration, curiosity, understanding.  She had the impression not many humans stood up to him, refusing his offers for immorality and their dreams in exchange for their souls and servitude.  He challenged her in a way none of her previous opponents or assignments did.  He didn’t underestimate her, mock her, demean her.  He respected her, something she didn’t even get from her own co workers, sometimes even her friends.

He had offered once more, in the opera house that night, offered her a job, all of her wildest dreams; all she could ask was why her, why couldn’t he buy someone else’s soul?

“I could,” he had replied, his expression charming despite the pointed canines revealing themselves over his bottom lip.  “But I’m not interested in anyone else’s soul.”

What was it he said at their last meeting down here, the conversation that always seemed to invade her dreams? Back when Raphael was dunked into the essence and she straightened his tie in an attempt to turn the tables.  

“I can see it.  Feel it.  You long for greater things, to unveil the truth, to open their eyes to the world around them.”  His green eyes bore into hers and she found herself lost in them that night, his face her only focus.  “Such…loneliness.  Work can only fill that void so long, my dear…”

He knew her, without ever truly  _knowing_  her.  It terrified her,  _exhilarated_ her.  

Sophia sighed, her warm breath coming out in gray tendrils from her chapped lips.  Tonight, she decided the catacombs were a good place to look; several parts of it she had yet to get to explore, still.  

The tunnels were bearable during the day, when one was likely to see light on their way out, the knowledge of daytime an unconscious comfort.  At 20 meters below the city, the pathways were deep enough for screams not to carry to the surface.  

The torches flickered, their warmth crackling in the silence surrounding her.  She knew this part well enough, knew the twists and turns, and a specific way out.  Tristan had mapped one months ago for everyone to follow, and a few others for good measure.  But even then, these tunnels were extensive and she hoped she wouldn’t become lost.  

Empty eye sockets stared back at her as she turned on the light she clipped to her jacket and began her walk. The torches only reached so far and plenty of sections were pitch black, she’d need the light later.  It was colder down here than she expected too.  She should have brought gloves.  Sophia shoved her hands, dry and cracked from the winter cold, into her pockets.  She’d deal with it later.

The only sounds around her were the errant skitters and squeaks of rats, the drip-drop of water, and her footsteps.  Her eyes swept over the bones, looking for any signs, any clues.  The catacombs were a logical choice for a vampire to hide; dark, away from any residual light, and there were plenty of humans who wandered off to feed on.  

 _And yet, here you are, Sophia!_ She thought sardonically as a rat squeaked and scurried away.

She hunched her shoulders as she continued on, taking a double-take at a corner; she could have sworn she saw a flash of green eyes…

Looking back, she saw nothing but the empty tunnel, the dark abyss staring back at her.  No way.  She’d have heard  _something_  if someone else was down here, surely.  But what if…

Sophia turned abruptly and headed in the direction she was looking, her motivation a little renewed despite the cold.  It wasn’t a path she had taken before; the markings on the walls looked unfamiliar, and she focused on remembering her turns to make her way back.  Yet every time the path forked, she felt like everything looked the same.

Was she going in a circle?

She had yet to see those eyes again…

“Out on your own…”  The taunting words were distant, far off to her right.  But she’d know that voice anywhere…the voice that haunted her dreams.  When she slept, that was.

Sophia followed the path she thought the voice came from.  A shiver ran up her spine, her coat now doing little to protect her from the cold.  Maybe this was a bad idea…maybe she should turn back…

No.  If he was down here, she  _would_ find him.  She  _needed_ to.  Her yearning was too strong to turn back now, not when she was as close as she had been since he fled.  

“Cold and alone again.”  The voice was closer…but not by much.  

Yet again, she followed, driven by instinct, by the desire within her.  Her soul ached as she wandered, no longer  _caring_  if she got lost, as long as it led her to him.  To those green eyes that shone like polished peridot, to that smirk that bared his fangs just enough to entice or threaten, to the tall silhouette in a three-piece suit.  

She stopped dead when she caught sight of a figure on the edges of her light’s reach.  High cheekbones, green eyes, impeccable tailoring.  Her heart raced in her chest as reality crashed in on her, as she realized  _he was here._  Sophia took a step forward, blinking once, only to find the figure was no longer there and she was left staring at an empty tunnel yet again.  

“Vincent?” She called out, hoping her teeth weren’t chattering too loudly.  “Vincent, please…”

Sophia’s desperation drove her deeper into the catacombs, so deep none of her surroundings looked familiar anymore.  Every glimpse of anything, she followed.  Nothing else mattered except  _finding_  him; her hands were numb, her body freezing.

She slowed in her steps, her form wracked with uncontrollable shivers.  

“Sophia…” she heard the voice a final time, soft, enticing, her name rolling off of his tongue the way a lover would say it.  

She paused.  That was…

She turned on her heel and her eyes widened as she realized what she was looking at; the man, the creature, that eluded her for months.  No.  She wouldn’t fall for that again, he’d just disappear on her.  Her mind was getting the better of her.  It always seemed to.  

Yet…he hadn’t disappeared.  Several beats of her heart passed and he was still in front of her, staring at her, his face expressing something between concern and slight annoyance.

The only sounds to be heard was her breathing and her heartbeat racing in her ears.  He didn’t need to breathe.  Surely he could  _feel_ her pulse racing,  _hear_  the blood running fast through her veins.

“And now…I have you all to myself.”  He murmured, just loud enough for her to hear, almost to himself, as as his signature smirk crossed his lips, his fangs exposing themselves ever so slightly.  

After a pause, he said smoothly, “Have you come to finish the job?  I can assure you I’m not easy to kill.”  His tone was as confident as always.  “And I think we both know you’re not capable of destroying life.”

“I think some would argue on your use of life in that sentence,” she managed to say as she shivered again.  

They stared at each other and his eyes glowed softly, reflecting what little light was offered from the torches and the flashlight.  She was reminded, for a moment, of their first meeting; “you have no idea how alike we really are, you and I,” he had said.  She had fire in her eyes then, annoyed at someone being so presumptive with what she wanted out of life.  

Those had been flames of anger.  Now, she was consumed by flames of desire, of longing.  Longing for purpose, for meaning, for challenge.  For him.

“I’m not down here to kill you.” She said, shaking her head as she removed her hands from her pockets, holding them up in a gesture of peace to show she had no weapons.  

“Then why  _are_ you down here, Ms. Cousland?  Other than to turn blue.”  He raised an eyebrow at her, his eyes flickering down to her mouth for a moment before meeting her gaze again.  

Her heart was pounding as she considered his words.  She hadn’t thought that far ahead.  She didn’t entirely understand what truly drove her to search the catacombs other than a need she couldn’t fully explain, even to herself.  A part of her doubted she would ever find him again to begin with, the only part of her not consumed by the driving desire to see him again.

“You.” She managed to say, leaning against the stone wall in an attempt to stop her shivering, feeling dizzy.  “I came down here to find  _you_.”

He opened his arms wide in a dramatic gesture.  “Well, here I am.  But that isn’t the whole reason, is it?  You’re not so reckless as to risk hypothermia to simply  _find_  me.”

“I  _needed_  to find you.” Sophia emphasized through gritted teeth.  “I…” She let out a breath through her nose, the warm air creating a cloud that lingered for a moment.  Sophia’s voice dropped to a whisper, barely audible over the dripping water.  “I…feel lost without you.”

“Yes, well, I made sure of that—”

“No, I mean lost in  _life_ , Vincent.” Her thoughts were jumbled.  “You’ve consumed my thoughts for weeks, I dream of the last time we met down here and I hear your words over and over and each time they make less sense than they did before.  I shouldn’t think about you but I do and I don’t know  _why_.”  Her last word came out with a harsh breath, desperation lacing her words.   She had another sentence on the tip of her tongue but she had said too much already.

She stared at him, Vincent wide eyed in realization at the words she spoke.  The first rule she learned when facing important interviews was to never reveal all of her cards, never let them know how much she knew, never give details too specific.  Her heart jumped into her throat.  She expected him to make a snide comment about her pathetic human emotions, about how could she  _possibly_  think he would ever want her.

His shock gave way to a smile one she had seen only once or twice before, to her knowledge.  Dare she say it was almost kind, that it reached his eyes for a moment.  

It was same one he gave her at the opera house, his eyes sparkling with personal amusement.  It meant he had something to leverage, that he wanted something.

And Vincent wanted, he usually got.  

Usually.

Not so with her.  At least, not so far.

 _I_ do  _know why I can’t stop thinking about him and he’s not an idiot, he knows I’m lying.  He has that effect on people;_ vampires  _have that effect on people.  But this isn’t…a draw to power…but to_ him.   _I want_ him,  _to be beside him_.

He stepped closer to her, looming over her but leaving enough space between them, just enough for her to move.  She felt the chill of the stone at her back, somehow still slightly warmer than the air she was currently breathing.  His hand reached for her light and clicked it off, plunging them into the faint orange glow of the torches.

She glanced up at him under heavy lids and she swallowed loudly, looking away.  She  _wanted_ him, something she admitted to herself daily, but she never expected to  _find_ him, at least, not tonight.  

“There’s more to that, isn’t there?” He said softly, his fingers then falling to her scarf, feeling the plush fabric before they went higher, his index finger curling under her chin to make her look at him.

She held his gaze for a moment, feeling…suddenly inclined to simply reveal everything to him.  Vampires could do that, compel humans, especially the weaker-minded, into doing their bidding, spilling their deepest desires.  But that usually came with a weird sleepiness, at least when Kat did it to her; she wanted to know what it was like, so she would know it if Vincent ever tried it.

This…her mind was clear, was her own.  The deep pain that disappeared for a moment came back full force, threatening to crush her chest under the pressure.  So strong she could barely breathe.  Finding him hadn’t been enough to quench it.  If anything, it added gasoline to an already roaring flame.

Sophia weighed the words on her tongue for a moment before whispering, “I  _ache_  in a way that shouldn’t be possible, as if everything I am and everything I’ve worked for is meaningless without your presence.”

Vincent watched her for a moment, his eyes narrowing slightly. She wondered if anyone had ever said such a thing to him, if her words were merely echoes he heard for centuries.  She wondered if he was doubting her, doubting her intentions, but he didn’t step away, didn’t remove his hand.  His thumb, originally on her chin, moved to brush against her chapped lips.  She had neglected small things in her search, in her obsession, but the feeling was still…pleasant, if she was honest.  

He closed the distance between them, his hand letting go of her and reaching for the fabric around her neck.  The scarf was pulled from her neck, revealing her skin to the winter cold, the piece falling to the ground.  She shivered as his cool hands found her skin, tracing her pulse point, her blood thrumming under his touch.  He hissed softly, thrilled to feel her life beneath his fingertips.

“Can this be what you really wanted, Sophia?” He chuckled.  Vincent’s lips hovered over hers, their noses brushing.  She was just as cold as he was.

“I need you more than anything,” he whispered, brushing his lips over hers, testing her.  Each kiss was firmer, more passionate than the last, but never once felt uncontrolled.  “Every time I close my eyes, I see you.”  

She felt dizzy again, her head spinning from the feeling of his lips on hers, from the hand at her neck, his fingers dancing on her skin.  His other hand fell to her waist, the pressure of his touch just barely felt under the fabric of her jacket.  

His fangs grazed her bottom lip, light enough to not break skin.  “I can’t change who I am, Sophia, but I want you all to myself.”

In need of air, she broke away, turning away from him, exposing the other side of her neck where his hand wasn’t.  Her cheeks felt hot, not having expected him to kiss her, to want her as much as she did him.  Vincent chuckled and she felt his nose brush her neck, just below her jaw.  

She recalled their first meeting, when she swore it would never be her who came to him, begging to be changed.  She still stood by that, although she felt the temptation, the draw, to the powers and longevity that came with the transformation.  It was utterly  _human_ of her to feel that, especially because it was so close, just out of reach; Kat would, if she asked her to.  

But it wasn’t Kat she wanted to do it.  When, or even  _if_ , she ever changed her mind.

She wanted that bond with Vincent, whether or not she ever changed.  The draw she felt to  _that_ part of him scared her, her own willingness to give up everything that made her human if it meant being with him.   Here he was, hovering over her pulse, her chest heaving still from her need for air.  She kept expecting pain, expecting his fangs to puncture her skin, to feel his tongue on her skin.  

Nothing came except gentle lips, as if relishing her pulse, her  _life_.

“Sophia, you taste like the sweetest, most forbidden things I’ve ever had, things I haven’t tasted in centuries.”  He whispered.  “Your warmth feels like the sun on a cool spring morning, breaking the chill of winter.”

She was enjoying the sensation of his lips on her skin when she heard him say, almost to himself, “I could never take that from you.”

“Not even if I asked?”

“You would turn your back on everything you know, on those you care about?”

“They betrayed me first, left me when I needed them most.”

“You  _are_ wicked, ma chérie.”  He grinned against her skin before pulling away.  She turned her head back to him, a soft disappointing sigh escaping her lips.

His gaze was intense, serious, but not without affection.  “It’s not a hasty decision to make out of spite, Sophia.  Should you wish, I will do it, when you’re ready.  If that is what you want.”

Her stomach twisted for a moment.  She  _knew_  what she wanted.   _Him_.  And to have him, to have him for as long as she could, that would mean turning.  Yet she found a part of herself scared for wanting eternity, for wanting him and all of the power that came with him.  Sophia mentally berated herself for being scared of what she wanted, what she longed for.

But she knew he was right.  There was no going back once she turned.  A point of no return.  Giving up her life, her mortality, was not a flippant decision.  An odd statement, coming from a man who believed patience was overrated, but she trusted his judgement.  

She nodded and he kissed her again, tenderly.

“For now, I can only offer you a warm place to stay or to escort you home.  I was jesting before but your lips are, in fact, turning blue.”

In their kissing, she had forgotten just how  _cold_ she truly was.  As kind as his offer of a warm place to stay was, home sounded like the best option.  Kat was probably worried about her, as much as it pained her to admit.  And she needed to think things over without a cloud over her head, without Vincent as a distraction.

“Home is probably best.”  She murmured.

“As you wish, Sophia.”

* * *

They spoke softly as they walked through the desolate streets, coming up on Canal St. Martin quicker than she anticipated.  Their talking helped keep her distracted, her dry hands buried deep in her pockets, her scarf back around her neck.

She looked up at her building, seeing a single light on; Kat, awake, with a few more hours left to her darkness.  

If Kat wasn’t home, she’d likely invite him inside, if only to keep him for a little while longer.  She didn’t want him to leave, didn’t want to be without him again.

In silence, they both walked to the door of her building, Vincent watching her as she stared at the door for a moment before meeting his gaze.

“Thank you,” she said.  “For…accompanying me.”

“You’re welcome, my dear.”

She reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him lightly, bringing her hands out of her pockets to rest on his chest.  She was procrastinating.  She needed to get inside, get warm, but she needed him too.

He chuckled, taking her hands in his.  He frowned for a split second, feeling her dry and cracked knuckles under the pads of his thumbs.  Vincent seemed as though he wanted to say something but thought better of it, perhaps realizing now wasn’t the time.  He didn’t need to; she knew she had neglected the smallest parts of herself in her time in the cold.  She’d take care of it.

Sophia unlocked the door and opened it, feeling the blast of warm air, almost scalding to her skin.  She stepped halfway inside before a thought came to her and unraveled the scarf from her neck, holding it out to him.  Half of her body was on his side of the threshold.

“So you have a reason to come back.”  She said, eyes darting from the soft cashmere to him.

He took it from her hesitantly, looking down at the material for a moment before locking eyes with her.  “I don’t need any reason other than to see you.”

“Well, for when you can’t, then.”  She didn’t have to list the numerous reasons that prevented them from seeing each other, their opposite schedules only scratching the surface.  

He folded the fabric into a neat bundle and held it like he was holding something fragile.  “Until next time, Sophia.”

“Goodnight, Vincent.”

She stepped into the doorway and waited for him to turn and walk down the stairs before closing the door.  She leaned against it, relishing in the warmth of the entryway.  She was beginning to feel her fingers again, and her nose was no longer totally frozen.  

Sophia sighed and began the trek up to her apartment, hoping Kat wouldn’t notice how long she was gone, if her scarf was missing.  When she stepped inside, she murmured a quick hello before shedding her coat and darting into her bedroom, petting the cat quickly.  

After she curled up under the blankets, her thoughts drifted to her choices, and she dreamed of mischievous green eyes and a life with Vincent.


End file.
